


Something to share between us

by DreamsofArachne



Category: Ancient History RPF, Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF
Genre: Birthday, First Kiss, Friendship/Love, M/M, Politics, backround weird family dynamics, pre civil war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26476075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamsofArachne/pseuds/DreamsofArachne
Summary: It‘s Cassius‘ birthday and Brutus is moping.
Relationships: Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger/Gaius Cassius Longinus
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Something to share between us

**Author's Note:**

> The result of me obsessing yet again over my favorite time period, Ancient Rome, after being through a rough time.

It was a warm day for October. Well, that was probably not because the Gods looked favourably on this day and more due to the fact that the calendar had gone terrible out of order since Caesar had been made Pontifex Maximus. There wasn't much time for sacerdotal duties -among them managing said calendar- when you were busy sceeming, proposing outrageous laws, and fighting wars in Gaul. Thus, it was actually supposed to be the middle of the summer, and it was no wonder the day was warm.  
It was also Cassius' birthday and Brutus had arrived late. He was in a bad mood and had excused himself after attending the small sacrifice to his friend‘s Genius and an appropriate degree of greeting and mingling. There were many guests, and half of them had used the occasion for an impromptu political conference -the times being as they were. The others -under the lead of Brutus's friend Statilius- made a point of concerning themselves with 'leisure-activities', it was meant to be a celebration, after all. The last Brutus saw of them in the peristyle, were a discussion about the latest races had nearly ended in a fist-fight.  
Cassius had remarked dryly that maybe Statilius should take a vacation "even an Epicurean to the mark will not escape politics amongst our class these days".  
Caesar's term in Gaul would soon be over and people were talking about civil war. The future weighed on Brutus every day, he hated even the thought of war, and if there was one he would have to join Pompeius's side, since Caesar's opposition gathered around him. Pompeius had killed his father many years ago, so Brutus was practically required to hate him. It vexed him being put in a position like this, for neutrality was not an option for someone named Junius Brutus.  
He had more personal reasons for being ill-tempered, though.  
Cassius, his closest friend, was wed to his sister, Tertulla. There had been some tension in the marriage lately, Brutus wasn't clear on the details, but his mother had told him by the by, they were apparently considering divorce. The prospect of losing Cassius as a brother-in-law, as a member of the family, had hit him like a bucket of cold water. They hadn't talked so openly or spend much time together before his wedding, and Brutus feared the breaking of their bond. So, he had wanted to do everything to help a reconciliation, wich greatly puzzled his familiars.  
"It's all nonsense, of course.", Servilia had said. "Couples fight, they make up, that's how life goes. The match is too good for either of them to really mean it."  
Still, Brutus had worried. His other sister, Junia, had advised him to stay out of it, because "You'll do more harm than good.".  
Wich might as well be true. Brutus had spent his entire life training how to avoid conflicts he didn't have to get involved in. If he did, he practised diplomacy and compromise. Helpful qualities in a matter like this, maybe, but Tertulla was clever and she knew him. She would realize in an instant that he didn't care for her happiness (at least, not first and foremost) and just wanted to keep his friend. Thankfully, the tensions had abated a bit (Brutus had learned all of this second-hand from his mother, like that there‘d been a fight in the first place).  
Tertulla had looked very content today, dressed in her best white and kissing Cassius on the cheek before snatching up the female guests, among them Porcia Catonis, the wife of Marcus Bibulus -a man entirely unworthy of her, if you were to ask Brutus. Brutus hadn't even had a chance to say hello, though he'd missed his cousin Porcia and hadn't seen her in a while.  
Now he was standing in Cassius's empty library, listening to the sounds of both arguments and merriment, looking for something to read. It was poor behaviour, but he was tired and convinced that with such an array of guests, no one would pay much attention to his absence.  
Instead of trying to fix his ominous fight with Tertulla, Brutus had spend the last weeks showing Cassius how good it was to have him for a brother-in-law and friend. Perhaps he would think twice about divorcing her then, he reasoned (Brutus had counted himself fortunate that none of them was away from Rome, for he had no idea how to make his letters to Cassius more affectionate without it seeming like he was writing some mistress. Cassius would think him insane).  
Though their routine had not changed much; They saw each other in the baths, the senate, at dinner, Cassius had asked him after a few days with the usual raised eyebrow if Brutus was attempting to gain his favor for something. Fortunately, Cassius always thought first of the political angle, even though it had made no sense in this situation.  
At the risk of Cassius thinking that he was trying to bribe him now, Brutus had picked out as birthdaygift an excellent copy of Praxiteles' Venus tying her sandal from his estate in Velia. The thing was priceless, and his mother adored it. But it was his to do with whatever he wanted, and so he had send for it. Then a storm had come and the arrival was delayed. As a result, Brutus had shown up to his friend's birthday empty-handed, full of worry and not even wearing white, but some indefinable beige-coloured tunic. Just this morning he'd realized that the only truly white garment he possessed that wasn't a frayed sleeping tunic was his toga candida for standing election, and he could only earn himself ridicule and Cassius a house full of chalk-dust by showing up in that. Brutus thought of Tertulla, beautiful and perfectly dressed, kissing Cassius and being a wonderful hostess and wife. It didn't improve his mood.  
He had just forced himself to start a scroll of Plato's dialogues he knew by heart, when the door opened and Cassius came in, holding a pitcher of vine and two cups.  
"I thought I might find you here.", he said, smiling fondly. Someone had draped a festive garland over his dark hair, for good fortune. "You always like to be sourrounded by works of literature when you mope."  
"I'm not moping.", Brutus protested.  
"Brooding, then." He set the pitcher on the table, next to Plato, and filled their cups.  
They took a sip in silence, then Brutus said: "Don't mind me, I'm in an ill mood today. Go back to celebrating."  
"When you tell me what is troubling you."  
The earnestness in his friend's tone warmed his heart. He certainly didn't want to explain his personal feelings, not sure he would even be able to, so he gave a resigned sigh as to say Can't you guess?.  
Cassius pulled up a chair and sat down. That garland looked quite silly on him with his soldiery bearing, Brutus thought.  
"Anyways, there is not much celebrating to be had, I'm afraid.", Cassius said. "Even Statilius's best effords have failed, and Tertulla is monopolising all the women. Everyone just wants to talk about my upcoming tribuneship and how I will use it to oppose Caesar." He sighed. "As if I haven't made my position clear already."  
"Are you sure he'll start a civil war to achieve his ambitions?" Only a question because Brutus desperately hoped for a different answer every time he asked it. He didn't get one.  
"How else will he avoid prosecution, exile and disgrace? Caesar is not a man to say now I've had my moment in the sun, it is time to retire. No, he will fight for his glory till the end."  
Brutus scoffed. "If you put it like that, what Roman wouldn't?" He drained and refilled his cup, already sick of the subject.  
"That may be, but Caesar never respected the constitution of the Republic in his quest for power. And that is why we have to fight him." Cassius spoke with determined anger. He'd make a fine tribune.  
"Fight him.", Brutus muttered. "With Pompeius."  
"Ah."  
A silence stretched between them. Cassius shared a friendship with Pompeius, a friendship of generals Brutus had no capacity or desire to understand.  
"I'm sorry.", Brutus said finally. "There I go, talking about politics again. Please, don't let me ruin your day with my gloom. It's unfair of me to burden you with my problems."  
Cassius put a hand on his shoulder. "Your problems are my problems. Besides, you've endured more than one rant from me."  
That was true. A few months ago, Cassius had been livid when a drunk senator had called his role in beating back the Parthians as governor of Syria into question. Brutus had talked him down from challenging the man to a brawl.  
Now, he remembered the alleged divorce considerations, that still were, if he was honest with himself, foremost on his mind.  
He tried for a light tone. "But it seems you've had no problems as of late? Personal ones, I mean?" The hand slid off his shoulder. "No, I would have told you. Why?"  
I would have told you. Yes, Cassius would have, because they talked about everything. Perhaps he'd been foolish to listen to exaggerated stories from his mother. Or, these "divorce considerations" all originated from Tertulla, who had told Servilia, and Cassius was entirely oblivious. Brutus couldn't hold back a wry chuckle.  
His friend frowned. "What is it?"  
"Oh, I'm just thinking that every man who isn't part of my family has my envy for not having to deal with intrigue and secrets every damned day." He wouldn't ruin Cassius's whole evening by saying what he knew now. He would see him tomorrow and felt guilty enough already.  
"Ah, well. Becoming part of your family at least made me see that you weren't a boring, arrogant bookworm."  
"Oh, really? I better don't tell you what I thought of you."  
"Only good things, I'm sure."  
They grinned at each other and Brutus had to laugh because the garland was askew on Cassius' head. He tucked it out of his hair angrily. "Scribonius Curio put it there 'as a gift' and then left. I don't know what he was doing here in the first place, I certainly didn't invite him..."  
"I'm sorry my gift isn't here yet.", Brutus said quickly, discomfited that even an enemy like Curio had outdone him. "I was sure it would arrive today. I'll have my stewart whipped."  
"I don't think whipping anyone will get it here any faster.", Cassius replied practically.  
"You're right, you're right." Brutus rose and resisted the urge to start pacing. His own unease irritated him; he did not know where it came from.  
Cassius stood up as well, looking a bit confused. "It's fine, really. Grand gifts are for people who have nothing else to share between them. An embrace and a kiss are all I need from you."  
In the general bustle of arriving they had only shaken hands briefly, Brutus remembered.  
"Right, of course."  
He smiled and embraced Cassius, feeling warm familiarity. The cloth of his friend's toga grazed his chin, and he rested it there. Cassius wrapped his arms around him, strong and comforting. Brutus allowed his eyes to close for a moment. He felt gratitude and something akin to joy well up in him, to have such a friend, someone to love like this. For Cassius had always been special, even though they had their differences in interests and character. It didn't matter.  
Brutus realized they'd been hugging a while now, already much longer than customary, and he reluctantly started to pull back.  
An embrace and a kiss, Cassius had said. Brutus looked into his friend's stormy eyes , barely a finger's breadth away, and thought a peck on the cheek insufficent to express what he felt, and words he didn't have at all. Gently, he cupped Cassius's face and pressed their lips together. Cassius went very still. Then his hand came to rest on Brutus's neck, pulling him closer. He knew that hand, had felt its touch many times, but never quite like this, with Cassius holding him, strocking his thumb along his jaw. Brutus drew back, but just a fraction, because Cassius hadn't moved and he did not want to relinquish this precious proximity. He was suddenly aware of his pulse thundering in his ears, their mingling breaths, the heat on his skin where Cassius touched him. He had been acting on impulse, had not anticipated any of this, and his thoughts were all jumbled.  
"Caius...", he began, not really sure how to continue.  
Cassius freed him of this perdicament by kissing him again. He kissed like he talked: determined and forceful, yet there was a sort of gentle fondness there too he used when speaking to Brutus. Brutus could taste the spiced vine on his lips, and traces of honeycake. It was strange and familiar at the same time and he never wanted it to stop. He didn't care that no one by any stretch of the imagination could still call this kiss brotherly, not when he opened his lips and Cassius' other hand was buried in his hair. All he wanted was more of this, this moment. He crowded closer and couldn't contain a moan as teeth nipped at his lips. He swallowed the other's chuckle and then a groan as their tongues slid together. Brutus ran his fingers over Cassius's body, tugging at the folds of his toga, wanting to get the thing off him, to feel more, taste more, kiss more...  
Somewhere in the lustful daze of his mind the thought of undressing registered, of what he was doing, and wanted to do. That made him break the kiss, albeit reluctantly. He realized he was now standing pressed against the reading table, half sitting on it. Cassius hands were still on him, one on his neck, the other bruied in his hair. They stared at each other, breathing harshly.  
Cassius expression was full of desire, an intense gaze Brutus had seen directed at him before and he felt heat rise to his cheeks now that he knew what it meant. But it was the sheer love and adoration reflected there for a moment that really made his heart stutter. Cassius looked like he'd been wanting this for a while.  
"Caius.", he said again, suprised.  
Cassius untangled his hand and took a small step back.  
He cleared his throat. "You don't need to get me anything else, really. That was more than suffcient for a gift, my friend." He smiled, almost sheepish.  
Brutus decided that at least in this situation, thinking was overrated. He stepped forward a pressed a short kiss to Cassius's closed lips. "I disagree. It was for me, too."  
„That wouldn‘t have anything to do with your strange behaviour lately?“  
Well. He‘d dug that pit of embarrassment for himself, so he had to climb out of it, albeit undignified. „I thought I would lose you.“, he muttered, eyeing the floor. „Maybe I should reserve my strategy only for political matters in the future.“  
Cassius tilted his chin up, suddenly standing very close again. „You could never lose me, Marcus. Please know that.“  
They gazed at each other, awkwardness between them, but deep affection, as well.  
"Will you stay?", Cassius asked. Until the guests have left was unsaid.  
"Of course." Giddy nervousness rose in him. But it seemed right, and better than anything else he'd felt in weeks.  
Then he remembered something of the world outside. "What about my sister?"  
It had been an arranged marriage, naturally, like Brutus's own, but still, he couldn't just ignore Tertulla's presence in what was happening.  
Cassius let out a laugh. "She sees me every day and isn't blind. I can't hide any personal affections from a daughter of Servilia, Marcus."  
Personal affections. Brutus swallowed, not quite believing.  
Cassius stared at the scrolls. "She teases me mercilessly about you.", he continued quietly. "In private, of course. I provoke her back with Caesar. It's the only thing that can get a rise out of her." "Caesar?", Brutus repeated. "Why that?"  
"You should listen more to salacious gossip, perhaps. It's not true, like most rumours, but you have find every weapon available in a battle with your wife."  
Brutus, the trained orator, searched for words and found none.  
„My marriage is a strange one, I know.“, Cassius said wryly. „But it in a way, it works out for both of us.“  
Brutus would have asked him to elaborate, but his usual instinct of keeping away from these matters prevented him. All he really wanted to do was lean in and kiss Cassius again, and so he did just that.  
Outside, someone yelled that the cake had been brought out.  
"There. Let's leave all gloom and celebrate your birthday.", Brutus said.  
Cassius chuckled. "Rescue poor Statilius, eh?"  
They shared a last intimate look before moving to join the party.  
There might be civil war and blood in the streets again, not to mention strife and intrigue in his family, ever present. But now, Brutus felt content, if only for one afternoon on the third of October. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if I got anything wrong timeline-wise, numbers are not my strong suit. A wonder that I actually remembered that Cassius‘ birthday was the third of October. Of course, he famously died on the same day years later, after everything...got a lot messier.


End file.
